Mark Caguioa shows the Kings' frustration after James Yap and Co. ran away with a lopsided win. Jerome Ascano

THE confidence is obviously not there for a Barangay Ginebra squad that is currently on a funk in the PBA Philippine Cup.

Veteran guard JayJay Helterbrand admitted the Kings are not playing with swagger the way they should do, and the free fall has chipped away at the popular team's confidence as the losses pile up.

The latest loss came Sunday night when the league’s most popular ballclub fell to San Mig Coffee Mixers, 68-78, suffering their fifth straight loss in a game that should've been declared a no-contest had it been a boxing match.

“It seems to me no one has the confidence inside the floor, and it showed offensively and defensively,” said the former league MVP, the first player to emerge from the gloomy Ginebra dugout at the Big Dome after the mismatch.

“I think a lot of guys are really losing confidence, and that’s showing on the court.”

The Kings fell behind to the Mixers by as much as 22 points in a game that saw them held to just eight points in the first quarter.

In all, Ginebra shot 35 percent from the field on 29-of-81 clip.

Helterbrand, one half of the Kings' popular duo along with Mark Caguioa, was one of three players who sat out injured, aside from Kerby Raymundo (flu) and Dylan Ababou (knee).

Helterbrand is nursing a pulled hamstring and watching his team helplessly from the bench frustrates him.

“We’re playing bad, there’s no secret to that,” he admitted. “I don’t know what’s going on (or) what the problem is.”

Even a team meeting among players last week appeared to not have done the team any good judging from the way the Kings played against James Yap and the rest of the Mixers.

“Things we’re said, suggestions we’re made to make the team better. It's just that it didn’t work, I don’t know,” said the Fil-Am guard. “It’s gonna need more than just one meeting to turn the season around. Not just because we have a meeting everything will be perfect.”

For the moment, Helterbrand can only offer one thing to his beloved Ginebra squad.

“When thing is going bad, you have to stay positive. That’s all we could do right now.”

“It seems to me no one has the confidence inside the floor, and it showed offensively and defensively,” said the former league MVP, the first player to emerge from the gloomy Ginebra dugout at the Big Dome after the mismatch.

“I think a lot of guys are really losing confidence, and that’s showing on the court.”